The end of deference in recent generations means those in authority can no longer assume automatic trust. With widespread suspicion of people in power, and myriad negative revelations about everyone from popes to politicians, corporate CEOs to climate scientists, it seems we are experiencing what one commentator has dubbed a ‘perfect storm over trust’. Opinion polls frequently demonstrate trust in a wide range of professions is at historic lows. Some celebrate this distrust of institutions as proof that citizens are less gullible, but a basic lack of trust is also apparent in our attitudes to each other. There appears to be a sense of fear and distrust across families, neighbourhoods and communities, evidenced by the rise of CCTV, and security checks for anyone working with children. Meanwhile, government policies aimed at regulating our alcohol consumption, what we eat and feed our children all imply the public can’t be trusted without official supervision. The famous slogan ‘Trust no-one’ of the 1990s TV programme The X Files appears to have become a mantra to live by. 

Anthony Seldon, author of the book Trust, argues Britain’s ‘trust deficit’ is as serious as the one affecting national finances. David Cameron and Nick Clegg have announced that ‘restoring public trust’ is a key political objective of the new government. Even in abolishing the Standards Board, which had been responsible for regulating local councillors’ conduct, communities minister Eric Pickles insisted on the need for more rather than less transparency. But how can trust be restored? Arguably, proliferating regulations, checks and demands for transparency can institutionalise distrust, not so much reassuring the public as confirming that those under scrutiny must be ‘a bit dodgy’.

What underlies the current mood of distrust? Do institutions and individuals merit such deep suspicion, or are we talking about a cultural climate that exaggerates and generalises a few isolated cases of corruption or malfeasance? Might this culture reflect a general rejection of authority per se, a loss of positive belief in human beings? Might we endanger important social bonds if we continually assume the worst of others? Have we simply become too fearful to take a ‘leap of faith’ in institutions, our friends and ourselves? Or have we reached a new age of reason, and simply recognised that such faith is hopelessly naive unless adequate safeguards are put in place?

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